Making Concessions as the Situation Requires

INSIGHT BORN OF FAITH of that tribe, could not be chosen as caliph. After some deliberation, this issue was finally resolved by deciding that only a member of the Quraysh tribe should be appointed as the Prophet’s successor. Accordingly, Abu Bakr, who belonged to the Quraysh tribe, was appointed as first caliph. There was an apparent contradiction in this. Why should the Prophet ever have made such an observation? There was, however, great wisdom behind it. That is, the caliph, or the ruler, having to impose commands on a vast society, required of necessity, that people should be willing to submit to or obey him. Without such obedience, the Caliphate could not have functioned effectively in that particular historical context. In ancient Arabia over the centuries, the Quraysh had come to acquire the position of leadership, so that the public readily accepted the leadership of a person who belonged to this tribe. That was why the Prophet indicated his preference for a member of the Quraysh as his successor. This was not a command of an eternal nature. This meant only that in any community or nation it should be a member of a group, which enjoyed a political status such as that of the Quraysh, who should be appointed as its ruler. This shows that pragmatism was also one of the sunnah of the Prophet. In individual matters, one should always keep before one what is ideal, but at the same time bear